Back to the Futures: With Brady Booted, No Odds-On Favorite for SB MVP
by Ricky Dimon - 1/25/2013


We have a  pretty good idea who will win the Super Bowl. After all, it’s finally narrowed  down to two — the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.
  
  But  who will lead his team to victory as the MVP? That’s a different story.  There’s no Tom Brady. No Peyton Manning. No Eli Manning. No clear-cut favorite.  Only one participating player (Ray Lewis in 2001) has ever won the award. So  who’s it going to be?
  
  Odds provided by Sportsbook.ag.
    
  Super Bowl MVP
    
    Colin Kaepernick (+140) – Kaepernick didn’t run roughshod all over the  Falcons like he did the Packers, but he still got the job done. As the  quarterback of the team that is favored by 3.5 points to win, Kaepernick has to  be a slight MVP favorite — and he is.
  
  Joe Flacco (+200) – Flacco is a rich  man’s Trent Dilfer, who was under center when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV.  He’s not flashy (well, aside from that miracle home run in the divisional round  at Denver), but all he does is win. Flacco already has eight career playoff  wins, including six away from home. In his three 2013 postseason games, he has  eight touchdowns and just one interception.
  
  Frank Gore (+600) – Gore didn’t do  much at the end of the regular season, but he has been stellar in two playoff  games. San Fran’s feature back rushed for 119 yards and a score against Green  Bay, and he found the end zone twice against Atlanta while gaining 90 yards on  21 carries. 
Ray Lewis (+600) – Regardless of the outcome, Lewis’  last game will be the Super Bowl. If he comes anywhere close to being the best  player on the field and the Ravens win, he will snag MVP honors simply as the  sentimental favorite. And he could do it. After all, Lewis recorded a game-high  14 tackles in the AFC Championship upset of New England.
  
  Stanley Cup
    
    Pittsburgh Penguins (+600) – Pittsburgh is off to a solid start, having won  two of its first three games. Evgeni Malkin is picking up right where he left  off in 2012, already with four assists.
  
  New York Rangers (+700) – Four games  does not a season make, but the Rangers are not off to a good start. They have  lost three of four while allowing more goals than any other team (tied with  Washington).
  
  Chicago Blackhawks (+800) – The  Blackhawks are averaging 4.7 goals per outing, and Marian Hossa already has  four lamp-lighters. An overtime win over Dallas on Thursday has the Blackhawks  at a perfect 4-0.
  
  Boston Bruins (+1000) – The 2011  Stanley Cup Champions are off to a fine start in 2013 with a 2-0-1 record. Boston  has been shorthanded 14 times through three games, and it has not allowed a  single power-play goal. This team will be tough to beat if that continues.
  
  NBA Western Conference
  
    Oklahoma City Thunder (+170) – It appears to be a three-team race in the  Western Conference, according to both the odds and the standings. Even without  James Harden, OKC is leading the NBA in scoring at a ridiculous 105.9 points  per game.
  
  Los Angeles Clippers (+240) – L.A.  is “Lob City” now, and the Lakers are doing nothing about it. If the Clips were  told they would be 14.5 games ahead of the Lake Show at the midway point, they  probably would have thought they’d be undefeated. That isn’t the case, but the  Clippers are at least keeping pace with the Thunder.
  
  San Antonio Spurs (+300) – San  Antonio owns the longest current winning streak in the league at six games,  allowing it to tie Oklahoma City atop the standings. The Spurs are once again  playing solid team ball, averaging the most assists per game (25.2).
  
  Memphis Grizzlies (+1000) – There’s  OKC, L.A., and San Antonio, and then there’s everyone else. Memphis may be the  best of the rest, but Zach Randolph has to stay healthy in order for the team  to have any kind of chance.
  
  Los Angeles Lakers (+1000) – It’s  the same story every week. The Lakers are bad and getting worse. Carry on.
The Masters
  
  Rory McIlroy (+600) – Golf season is  underway, and while a commercial (the Tiger-Rory Nike ad) has generated more  headlines than on-course activities, it’s never too early to start thinking  about the Masters. McIlroy “only” has two major titles, but he dominated both  of those tournaments by eight strokes. As the rankings reflect, he is far and  away the best player in the world right now. 
    
    Tiger Woods (+650) – Tiger, however, is a close second-favorite due to his  past history at the majors — especially Augusta. The 14-time major champion  owns four green jackets. Although he has donned none since 2005, he has  finished in the Top 6 in seven of the last eight installments. With his game  back in shape for the most part, Tiger can expect more of the same.
  
  Phil Mickelson (+1200) – Mickelson  has been making a lot more noise off the course (see: complaining about  California taxes) than on, but he is money at the Masters. Lefty has won it  three times and has four more third-place finishes (including in 2012). You can  be sure he’ll find his game on his old stomping grounds down Magnolia Lane.
  
  Luke Donald (+2000) – The  third-ranked player in the world is one of the best never to win a major. He  vows to focus on the slams in 2013 (as if that isn’t always the focus) in an  attempt to end the drought. Donald has seven career Top-10s at the four biggest  events, including three in Augusta.
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